You wouldn’t play golf with a baseball bat – it’s a different game. Remember, that French is a “game” and English is a different game. Learn the rules and the techniques. Don’t just speak French using English words!

Why wrong: In English there are thousands of expressions called phrasal verbs that use a particle (i.e. a preposition or adverb) after a verb. Examples of particles are up, down, in, out, on and off. Omission of the particle can change the meaning, often quite humorously.

Why wrong: In English there are thousands of expressions called phrasal verbs that use a particle (i.e. a preposition or adverb) after a verb. Examples of particles are up, down, in, out, on and off. Omission of the particle can change the meaning, often quite humorously. If you mean to put something in the garbage, say throw out.

Why wrong:Fate means le destin whereas faith means la foi. Th is a distinct sound in English, not to be confused with t. For more information, click here.

Correct it: Touch your top front teeth with your tongue and exhale softly when you say th. You probably know people who lisp (parlent au bout de la langue). This is what you should do to pronounce th. Say “I have faith it will get better.”

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Why wrong:Be extremely careful with acronyms. Remember that they are short for other words. If those other words are in another language, it’s almost 100% sure that another acronym will be used. REÉR (Régime Enregistré d’Épargne et Retraite) doesn’t stand for the same words in English. If you mean REÉR, say RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan).

Why wrong: The definite article (“the”) is not used for streets, cities, provinces, states, countries, continents, mountains, islands, lakes or bays unless they are plural (the United States, the Alps or the Maritimes). To be taken seriously…

Why wrong: In English there are thousands of expressions called phrasal verbs that use a particle (i.e. a preposition or adverb) after a verb. Examples of particles are up, down, in, out, on and off.Omission of the particle can change the meaning, often quite humorously.

Why wrong: In French, most final consonants aren’t pronounced. This can create confusion if you do this in English. For more information, click here. To be taken seriously…

Correct it: Just like a golfer finishes his swing, finish your words. The endings of most English words (especially d, s and t ) must be pronounced or else something else may be understood: “It’s really cold outside today.”

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What? Are you Batman? He has a batmobile, a batplane and a batcycle. He must have a batroom too.

Why wrong: Th is a distinct sound in English, not to be confused with t. For more information, click here.To be taken seriously…

Correct it: Touch your top front teeth with your tongue and exhale softly when you say th. You probably know people who lisp (parlent au bout de la langue). This is what you should do to pronounce th. I have to go to the bathroom.

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Why wrong: That’s is a contraction of that is or possibly that has.That is third person singular, similar to it. Consequently, in the Simple Present, it is the verb, not the subject, that takes the s. To be taken seriously…

Correct it: That’s should be followed by an adjective, a possessive pronoun (e.g. mine, yours, or ours), a noun or article. After words that are third person singular (e.g. it, this and that), remember to put the s on the verb in the Simple Present.

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Why wrong: The definite article(“the”) is not used for streets, cities, provinces, states, countries, continents, mountains, islands, lakes or bays unless they are plural (the United States, the Alps or the Maritimes). For more information, click here.

Cause of confusion: There is no short u sound in French. It is often confused with a short o sound. Short o sounds like the sound you make when a doctor asks you to stick out your tongue. The short u sound is like in the word up. For more information, see O or U.

Correct it:Listen aggressively to notice the nuances between vowels. For boss, drop your chin and hold the sound longer. For bus, keep the sound short and raise the edges of your mouth (as if you’re smiling).Say I took the bus to work.

Why wrong: It’s is a contraction of it is or possibly it has.It is third person singular, similar to he or she. Consequently, in the Simple Present, it is the verb, and not the subject, that takes the s.

Correct it: If be is not the verb, don’t say It’s. Say it and put the s on the verb (It depends).

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Why wrong: Th is a distinct sound in English, not to be confused with d or t. For more information, click here. To be taken seriously…

Correct it: Touch your top front teeth with your tongue and exhale softly when you say th. You probably know people who lisp (parlent au bout de la langue). This is what you should do to pronounce th. Say Mary Higgins Clark is my favorite author.

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Why wrong:The -ed endings of past tense regular English verbs must be clearly pronounced or something else will be understood. Someone from Finland is Finnish. For more information, click here. If you don’t want people to laugh…

Correct it: For words that end with sh before the ed, the ending should be pronounced like a t. Say “I am finished!”

Why wrong: Nationalities, languages, proper names, days of the week, months of the year, holidays and the pronoun I must be capitalized. Do the same with a person’s title when used before the name but not after it. That should be “I write English very well.”

Why wrong: The word traduction doesn’t exist. The word is translation, from the verb to translate. It’s a common mistake since English and French share many words, but not all of them. If you want to be taken seriously...

What are false friends? False friends are words from different languages which look similar but have different meanings. There are over 1,000 false friends between English and French. To be taken seriously…

Correct it: False friends must be learned to avoid the mistakes. What is meant here is bother or disturb as in I didn’t mean to bother you. For more help with false friends, click here.

Why wrong: That’s is a contraction of that is or possibly that has. That is third person singular, similar to it. Consequently, in the Simple Present, it is the verb, and not the subject, that takes the s. To be taken seriously…

Correct it:That’s should be followed by an adjective (e.g. good, interesting, or sad), a possessive pronoun (e.g. mine, yours, or ours) or a noun or article (e.g. That’s life!, That’s the spirit! or That’s a deal breaker!). Unfortunately, mean is also an adjective, not only a verb. After words that are third person singular (e.g. it, this and that), remember to put the s on the verb in the Simple Present. “That means what you do all day.”

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Listen to the mistake: [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://www.anglaide.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Turd-Child.ogg”]

Listen to the correction: [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://www.anglaide.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Third-Child.ogg”]

Why wrong: Th is a distinct sound in English, not to be confused with d or t. The word turd is sometimes vulgar, but surely not what you mean to communicate. For more information, click here.

To be taken seriously, you should…

Correct it: Touch your top front teeth with your tongue and exhale softly when you say th. Say I am the third child.

You probably know people who lisp (parlent au bout de la langue). This is what you should do to pronounce th (but not for s or z ). It may sound and feel bizarre at first, but it really is the way it should be spoken.

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